” The daughter of President Barack Obama’s former pastor was convicted on Friday of laundering thousands of dollars from a state grant for a Chicago-area job-training program, federal prosecutors said.

A federal jury took less than two hours to find Jeri Wright, 48, the daughter of Jeremiah Wright, guilty on all counts for her part in a fraud scheme led by a former suburban police chief and the chief’s husband, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Central District of Illinois in Springfield.

The $1.25 million state grant was for a not-for-profit work and education program called We Are Our Brother’s Keeper, owned by Regina Evans, former police chief of Country Club Hills, and her husband, Ronald Evans Jr.”

” Local Motors, purveyor of the excellent Rally Fighter that TG had a go in a few years back, is in the process of making the world’s first full-sized, driveable car using parts made almost entirely using 3D-printing technology. Yes, ladies and gents, it seems the future is truly upon us.

The car will be called the ‘Strati’ and is being printed and assembled by Local Motors at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS), which is currently being held in Chicago.

As the printers spray out each individual piece of the car, a team of ‘rapid assembly’ engineers will then put the individual pieces into place. Local Motors claims that the ‘Strati’ will only have 40 parts – as opposed to the average 2,000 parts found in most vehicles – and will take 44 hours to print. Then, on the final day of the IMTS it hopes to drive its creation off the show floor. “

” Chicago, IL. (September 8, 2014) – History will be made when the world’s first 3D-printed car drives out of McCormick Place in Chicago, Ill. During the six-day IMTS – The International Manufacturing Technology Show 2014, the vehicle will be printed over 44 hours then rapidly assembled by a team led by Local Motors with the historic first drive set to take place the morning of Saturday, September 13.

Called the Strati, the vehicle will be 3D printed in one piece using direct digital manufacturing, (DDM), which is the first time this method has been used to make a car. Mechanical components, like battery, motor, wiring, and suspension are sourced from a variety of suppliers, including Renault’s Twizy, a line of electric powered city cars.

“ The Strati was designed by our community, made in our Microfactory and will be driven by you,” said John B. Rogers, Jr., CEO of Local Motors. “This brand-new process disrupts the manufacturing status quo, changes the consumer experience and proves that a car can be born in an entirely different way.”

The innovative and bold vehicle uses the material science and advanced manufacturing techniques pioneered at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). “

” When’s the last time you heard any good news out of Chicago, at least as it relates to crime figures? Well, prepare yourselves for a change from the status quo. While the murder rate and gang violence are still bad – and frequently in the local news – the robbery rate has gone down recently. And the police think they might know why.

Since Illinois started granting concealed carry permits this year, the number of robberies that have led to arrests in Chicago has declined 20 percent from last year, according to police department statistics. Reports of burglary and motor vehicle theft are down 20 percent and 26 percent, respectively. In the first quarter, the city’s homicide rate was at a 56-year low.

“ It isn’t any coincidence crime rates started to go down when concealed carry was permitted. Just the idea that the criminals don’t know who’s armed and who isn’t has a deterrence effect,” said Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association. “The police department hasn’t changed a single tactic — they haven’t announced a shift in policy or of course — and yet you have these incredible numbers.” “

” A family dog was allegedly shot and killed in front of a 6-year-old girl by a police officer in southwest suburban Hometown Friday afternoon.

The dog’s owners said their one-year-old German Shepherd mix, named Apollo, had run out the front door of their house on the 8700 block of Beck Place around 2:20 p.m. and had returned to the front lawn when police arrived.

” I walked over and I tried to call him inside. The police officer had his gun out already,” said Nicole Echlin, one of the dog’s owners. Her 6-year-old daughter walked with her.

” He started showing his teeth — that’s when the officer shot him,” said Echlin, 27. “I didn’t know that was going to happen.”

Echlin then grabbed her daughter, who had fallen to the ground crying, and rushed her inside.”

Readers may show their support for Apollo and voice their outrage at the Facebook page “Justice For Apollo” .

” • A 30-year-old man was killed in the Austin neighborhood about 3 a.m. He was found in the front seat of a car, shot in the neck, back and shoulder in an alley next to Laramie Avenue just north of Madison Street. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The man was later identified as Brandon Wilson, of the first block of North Latrobe Avenue, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:55 a.m.

• Someone shot a 35-year-old man in the Englewood neighborhood about 3 a.m. He was wounded in the leg and taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, police said. Police said the man was on a sidewalk when someone opened fire from inside a passing dark vehicle.

• A 15-year-old boy was shot in the West Englewood neighborhood about 12:50 a.m. He was sitting in a parked car, in the 7000 block of South Winchester Avenue, when someone in a passing white van opened fire, police said. The boy was taken to Holy Cross Hospital with an arm wound.

• A 19-year-old man was in serious condition after someone shot him in a Lawndale neighborhood alley about 12:20 a.m. He was shot in an alley east of the 1200 block of South Christiana Avenue and ran around the corner onto 13th Street, where police found him bleeding from a wound to his back. He was taken in serious condition to Mount Sinai Hospital, police said.

• Two men, 24 and 33, were shot about 12:10 a.m. in the 500 block of East 71st Street in the Grand Crossing neighborhood. The younger man was shot in the abdomen and taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County while the older was taken to University of Chicago Hospital with a foot wound. The two told the police they “heard shots and felt pain.”

• Four men were shot in the 1300 block of North Mason Avenue in the North Austin neighborhood about 11:30 p.m. All four took themselves to hospitals.

A 24-year-old man was shot in the arm and went to West Suburban Medical Center.

A 33-year-old man with foot and knee wounds, and a 31-year-old man with an arm wound, also went to West Suburban Medical Center.

The fourth man, 30, walked into Oak Park Hospital with a foot wound. The 33-year-old was later transferred to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County.

• Three people were wounded on the 4000 block of West Maypole Avenue in the West Garfield Park neighborhood about 11:30 p.m. One walked into Mount Sinai Hospital, one was dropped off at a fire station on Maypole, and the third was taken to the hospital, police said.

A 15-year-old boy was shot in the leg and a 32-year-old suffered a graze wound, police said. The two were taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, along with a 22-year-old man who was went to Mount Sinai Hospital on his own.

• About 11:20 p.m. someone shot a 25-year-old man in the ankle near Haddon Street and Long Avenue on the West Side. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital. Police said he had been sitting on a porch when two men approached and at least one started shooting.

• A 38-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to the eye in the 7600 block of South Drexel Boulevard about 11:05 p.m., police said, citing preliminary information. He was listed in stable condition at Advocate Christ Medical Center.

• A 15-year-old boy was shot in the 11800 block of South Yale Avenue about 10:30 p.m. He suffered wounds to the arm and foot and his condition was stabilized at Roseland Community Hospital. He was outside when someone walked up and shot him, police said.

• A 26-year-old man was shot near Armitage and Lamon avenues about 10:50 p.m. The man suffered gunshot wounds to the shoulder, abdomen and leg. He was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in serious condition.

He was standing on the block when someone drove up in a light-colored car. The 26-year-old and the man in the car exchanged words. The man in the car got out and started shooting, police said. The man who shot the 26-year-old fled the scene.

• About 5:50 p.m., a 33-year-old man was wounded in both legs in the 3800 block of West Wabansia Avenue, Zala said. The man walked into the St. Elizabeth campus of Sts. Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center, although he was possibly transferred to Stroger.”

” The long Fourth of July weekend in Chicago was riven by violence, with dozens of shootings across the city. Since Thursday afternoon, when the holiday weekend began in earnest, at least 82 people were shot, 14 of them killed, according to the Chicago Tribune:

Many of the long weekend’s shootings were on the South Side, clustered in the Englewood, Roseland, Gresham and West Pullman neighborhoods that rank among the most violent in the city.

The victims ranged from the 14-year-boy shot by police in the Old Irving Park neighborhood to a 66-year-old woman grazed in the head as she walked up the steps of her porch on the Far South Side. Most victims were in their late teens and 20s.

Nearly all of the people shot and killed were black or Hispanic men, the Chicago Sun-Times noted, which speaks to a larger issue nationwide: Black people are much, much more likely to be killed by gunfire than white people. The Department of Justice reported that in 2010, the rate of firearm homicides for black people was 14.6 per 100,000 people and the rate for Hispanic people was about 4 per 100,000. By comparison, the rate for white people was 1.9 per 100,000. ”

This is hardly a new thing as the video report of last year’s Independence day violence can attest …

The death toll in 2013 was 12 while those wounded numbered 72 . This is the price to be paid for glorifying the thug life and for decades of liberal policies . This is gang violence , pure and simple , gang violence and a complete abdication of parental responsibility brought about through the encouragement from the State of total dependence .

” The curled metal fixtures set to go up on a handful of Michigan Avenue light poles later this summer may look like delicate pieces of sculpture, but researchers say they’ll provide a big step forward in the way Chicago understands itself by observing the city’s people and surroundings.

The smooth, perforated sheaths of metal are decorative, but their job is to protect and conceal a system of data-collection sensors that will measure air quality, light intensity, sound volume, heat, precipitation and wind. The sensors will also count people by measuring wireless signals on mobile devices.”

” Some experts caution that efforts like the one launching here to collect data from people and their surroundings pose concerns of a Big Brother intrusion into personal privacy.

In particular, sensors collecting cellphone data make privacy proponents nervous. But computer scientist Charlie Catlett said the planners have taken precautions to design their sensors to observe mobile devices and count contact with the signal rather than record the digital address of each device.”

” The choir sang hallelujah as the congregation of 15,000 clapped and sang along. Reverend James Meeks ratcheted up the intensity of his speech. “Man looks at the outside,” he shouted rearing his head back. “But God looks at your heart! Are you with me here?”

Judging by the response, Meeks had the faithful at Salem Baptist Church hanging on his every word.“One hundred percent with Reverend Meeks,” said parishioner Eugene Harris outside the mega-church on Chicago’s fiercely Democratic South Side.

Meeks is careful not to preach politics from the pulpit. That doesn’t mean he does not have a political side. This former state senator is active as a leader in Chicago’s African-American community and also has considerable political clout.

This gubernatorial election he is not throwing that clout behind the Democrat, incumbent Governor Pat Quinn. Instead, Meeks is lining up behind Bruce Rauner, the wealthy Republican businessman from Chicago’s predominantly-white North Shore.

“ The Democratic party just assume always that 97 percent of the African-American vote will go to the Democratic party. If that assumption is true, they never have to work for our vote,” Meeks said.”

Chicago PD Must Release Info On Police Misconduct

Published on Mar 14, 2014

” The public is getting more checks on police, according to two new court rulings. In Illinois, a state appeals court has ruled that the Chicago Police Department can no longer keep private information about police misconduct, and will have to release that information as a matter of public record. Proponents hope this will help keep track of officers who have repeated misconduct issues. In Maryland, a lawsuit settlement means Baltimore police officers can no longer do anything about citizens using cell phones and other cameras to record police interactions. RT’s Gayane Chichakyan takes a look at these two cases and the public’s ability to hold law enforcement accountable for their actions.”

” Interest in gun ownership has been growing across the country. The FBI conducted more than 21 million background checks of potential gun buyers in 2013, the most since the system was put into place in 1998. In Illinois 1.7 million people currently have firearm owner identification cards issued by the state police, including more than 150,000 in Chicago, up 30 percent since 2011.

Illinois, and Chicago in particular, has historically had some of the most restrictive gun regulations in the country—from 1982 until 2010 it was illegal to possess a handgun in the city—but the laws are changing. Last July, under orders from a federal court, the General Assembly passed a law making Illinois the 50th state to allow residents to carry firearms in public. The state police began accepting conceal-and-carry permit applications in late December, and by late January nearly 33,000 had been approved pending background checks. Residents from rural areas downstate have signed up at the highest rates, but nearly a fourth of the applications came from Cook County.

Vernon has been a firearm owner and activist for decades, but he doesn’t fit the stereotype of a gun nut. He’s a middle-class African-American who lives on Chicago’s south side. A former university administrator, he’s studied civil rights history for decades. A framed photo of Malcolm X hangs in the living room of his modest home. He voted against Mitt Romney in the last presidential election—though he can’t quite bring himself to admit that he cast a ballot for President Obama.”

The Reader offers a lengthy profile on Mr Jordan and the state of gun ownership in Chicago .

” A day after a boy was arrested and charged with a felony for throwing a snowball at a police officer, students outside George Leland Elementary continued to build snowmen and throw snowballs at each other after school.

According to police, a 13-year-old boy was charged as a juvenile with felony aggravated battery against a police officer Wednesday after he hit the officer in the arm with a snowball while the officer was parked in his vehicle in the 4900 block of West Congress Parkway about 3:20 p.m.”

It’s all about power . In my day the cop would have given the kid a good tongue lashing and driven him home to his parents who most likely would have thrashed his backside a bit and grounded him for a week … end of story , lesson learned . No more , now everything ends in arrest and/or assault . My how we have fallen .

” Criticizing Chicago school officials for being overzealous, misguided and incapable of distinguishing between an impotent toy and a dangerous weapon, The Rutherford Institute has come to the defense of an 11-year-old boy who was suspended from school after he voluntarily turned in a non-firing plastic toy gun that had been forgotten in his jacket pocket.

Caden Cook, a sixth grader at Fredrick Funston Elementary School, was suspended for allegedly violating the school’s weapons policy against dangerous objects, in addition to being ordered to undergo counseling, and subjected to intimidation tactics, interrogation, and dire threats by school officials—all without his mother being present.

Rutherford Institute attorneys have asked that the suspension be rescinded and all references to the incident be removed from Caden’s permanent school record.”

” Washington, D.C., doesn’t have many farms, or farmers. Yet thousands of residents in and around the nation’s capital receive millions of dollars every year in federal farm subsidies, including working-class residents in Southeast, wealthy lobbyists on K Street and well-connected lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

In neighboring Chevy Chase, Md., one of the nation’s wealthiest communities, lawyers, lobbyists and at least one psychologist collected nearly $342,000 in taxpayer farm subsidies between 2008 and 2011, according to the watchdog group Open the Books.

Taxpayer subsidies were also paid out to Gerald Cassidy, the founder of one of Washington’s most powerful lobbying firms, Cassidy & Associates; Charlie Stenholm, a former congressman; and Chuck Grassley, a Republican senator from Iowa. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack continues to receive subsides even though he has overseen the agency that pays them since 2009.

” All of it is entirely legal,” said Adam Andrzejewski, founder of Open the Books, a group that created an online database and mobile app to track the subsidies.

To illustrate just how far the subsidy program has strayed from its original purpose, Open the Books calculated payments going to three major cities with few, if any, modern ties to farming: Washington, D.C., New York City and Chicago. Taxpayers sent $30 million to those residents over the past four years to compensate them for converting farmland to conservation areas and for growing soybeans, cotton, corn, rice and other crops.”

” The so-called polar vortex was the news of the day for much of the United States on Tuesday, as Americans from New York to New Orleans dealt with ultra-low temperatures and other extreme weather conditions.

As humans bundled up and cranked the heat, many of them took the time to read and share news stories reporting that the weather was so bad that even polar bears can’t handle it. But it turns out that the story is not quite what it seems.

” She doesn’t typically enjoy the very cold much,” Lincoln Park Zoo spokeswoman Sharon Dewar told DNAInfo. “Few of us are accustomed to this cold.”

” The zoo’s polar bear, Anana, has been provided access to her outdoor exhibit today. She has a choice about whether or not she wants to be inside in a more temperature controlled climate (approximately 40-50 degrees), or outside. Today she has actually been enjoying some time outdoors,” Dewar said Tuesday.”

” Widely shared online right now is this chilly photo taken of Chicago during Tuesday’s devastating cold. Residents of the Windy City are not alone: 180 million Americans are struggling through record-breaking freezing temperatures.

By Tuesday, a big chill covered about half of the country. In New York City, the high was expected to be 10; in Boston, around 18, as AP writes. Chicago faced a low of -15 on Monday night, and on Tuesday afternoon is dealing with three-degree temps.”

” Protesters from coast to coast have engaged in recent efforts to artificially raise the minimum wage to unsustainable levels. If successful, these shortsighted strikers will ensure massive layoffs and a sharp spike in retail prices to absorb the increased operating expense.

Sometimes, however, the strikes themselves can lead to similar unintended consequences. Such was the case with Snarf’s Sub Shop in Chicago, which was the site of a minimum wage rally earlier this month.

After four straight days of dormancy due to the strike outside, the sandwich shop apparently had great difficulty recovering. Though the store’s management denies any correlation, the business’ 20 employees received an electronic pink slip just two days before Christmas.”

Al Sharpton’s Chicago Town Hall Erupts Into Anti-Machine Revolt

Published on Dec 21, 2013

” This past Thursday, a town hall meeting hosted by Al Sharpton and the National Action Network to address gun violence exploded into a revolt against “Chicago Machine” politics, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and black alderman in City Hall with panel and audience members calling to vote out their elected officials. One 82-year-old preacher even called for “Tea Party” style meetings in some of Chicago’s south side communities such as Altgeld Gardens and Trumbull Park. “

” Apart from his enduring legacy of over 100 tracks of superb fingerpicking guitar, very little was known about the personal life of Blind Blake until very recently. A death certificate discovered in Milwaukee states that Arthur Blake was born in 1896 in Newport News VA, but he was probably raised in Northern Florida or the Georgia Sea Islands judging from his ‘Geechy’ dialect. When his career stalled in 1932, Arthur travelled to the South where he promptly disappeared, and his fate was unknown. What is certain is that his superb, virtuoso guitar technique set a standard that only the most accomplished players could approach, even a century later.

Blind from birth, Arthur Blake learned guitar as a way of earning a living in a hostile world. As a young ‘wandering songster’, he travelled around the South singing Blues songs and music-hall ditties to the sound of his swinging Ragtime guitar, and earned himself a reputation across the region as a sparkling entertainer. That fame brought him to the attention of record company scouts on the lookout for fresh talent to feed the growing demand for ‘race music‘, that had been sparked by Blues Divas like Mamie Smith, Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. In 1926 Arthur signed for‘Ink’ Williams‘ Paramount Records in Chicago, and his first release was the storming instrumental, ‘West Coast Blues’. This display of exceptional talent meant that ‘Ink’ kept him busy in the studio for the next six years. He was a first-call session player for all the Paramount stars and he featured on hit records by Papa Charlie Jackson, Ma Rainey, Gus Cannon and Ida Cox, among many others.”

If this is the way “adults” act is it any surprise that their children behave like animals too ? This is what a secular society brings about . No faith , no morals …

” The early start to this year’s shopping mayhem did not prevent several reported violent confrontations at stores around the nation that opened up for Black Friday, which is typically considered the biggest shopping day of the year.”

You can treat yourself to more videos of shameful behavior here if you so desire . Undoubtably there will be more as the day rolls on . By opening their doors on Thanksgiving night the major retailers have just provided more time for the predatory shoppers to clash . It’s an embarrassing day to be an American . We hang our head in shame .

” In the Chicago suburb of Romeoville, a driver believed to be involved in a shoplifting scheme was shot by authorities after dragging a police officer who was trying to stop him in the parking lot of a Kohl’s department store late Thursday, the Chicago Tribune reported.

At a Wal-Mart in the Southern California city of Rialto, a police officer was injured while trying to break up a fight after a store manager decided to open the doors early, which police said led to the melee, according to the San Bernardino County Sun.

In Las Vegas, a customer who had purchased a big-screen television at Target was shot in the leg while walking to a nearby apartment complex, KLAS-TV reported. The victim was taken to an area hospital with non-life threatening injuries, according to police.”

” Lady Godiva rode a horse, and this goddess rode the Red Line. She boarded at Granville, told riders she was the goddess of the train, said she was heading to the motorman’s compartment to run it and told everyone else to get off.”

The unidentified 31 year-old woman has been taken away for a psychiatric evaluation .

” A former high-ranking member of “Gangster Disciples” street gang, “Noonie G,” has called out the Chicago machine for failing to address the root causes of Chicago violence: the illegal drug trade. Speaking to Breitbart’s Rebel Pundit, he referred to people like Jesse Jackson, Jr., and Al Sharpton as “sympathy pimps,” unleashing a scathing attack on the players who enable the violence to continue–and shield the public from a true understanding of what’s going on…”